President Zuzana Čaputová. (source: SME - Jozef Jakubčo)
Some people could not imagine that Zuzana Čaputová would not run in next year's presidential election.
Her work has strengthened the image of a prudent pro-Western politician who maintains protection over constitutionalism and resists the pitfalls of populism. She was expected to be a counterweight to populists and disinformation for years to come.
However, Zuzana Čaputová decided not to run for office again. She announced that once her term is over, she will try to serve the public, but no longer as the president of Slovakia.
In an exclusive interview with the daily SME, President Zuzana Čaputová explains how her decision arose, what she took into consideration, and what her inner struggle looked like. Is she leaving because of Robert Fico's attacks? Did she guess the time of her departure correctly? How does she view her successor?
The question of whether you will seek the trust of the voter for five more years in the presidential office has been hanging in the air for several months. When did you make your final decision?
It was a rather long process. I think I remember that the first time the question of whether I would run for the second term was asked very soon, the very next Monday after the Sunday I was elected. I felt that question ever-present the four years. But it was in the last six months when the most intensive search period took place, with the conclusion arising in recent weeks and days.
How did your decision come about? Was it an internal struggle between Zuzana Čaputová, citizen, woman and mother on the one hand, and a president whose office transcends the individual on the other? Can these two positions be separated when it comes to such a serious decision?
I think it is impossible to do so entirely. On the one hand, one deals with how to best perform public service, competences and duties, and perceives the social context of Slovakia. But in the end, the person has to cope with all these responsibilities with both their strengths and weaknesses. But sometimes life's circumstances pile up in a way, where the combination of a difficult work environment and one’s life do not allow them to fully go into another term.
One hears many opinions, but in the very end we are all alone in making a serious decision. How much did public opinion or the people around you influence your decision?
I talked a lot to both the people closest to me and ones who more distant. I tried to perceive social events, the times we live in. In the end, I had to make that decision on my own, but not isolated from what surrounds me. So that it's a decision one can stick to, and that they can rely on at any time, whether in the present or in the future. Finally I had to find courage to leave what I was supposed to be in order to fully be who I am.
